The present invention relates to a walkway for protecting the movement of airline passengers to and from aircraft and in particular to a movable ramp passenger walkway for the protective movement of passengers between the ground and the doorway of the aircraft.
In my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,343 there is disclosed a collapsible articulating ground passageway having a plurality of independent U-shaped frame sections that are articulately connected in an end to end series to form a flexible corridor. The passageway disclosed in my prior patent is adapted to communicate with a commuter aircraft at a first end and with the airport terminal at the other. These passageways were designed and intended for use on the ground with smaller commuter type aircraft which generally have door sill wells below 6 feet and are generally provided with their own stairways. At present there still is no bridge or pathway apparatus which can dock with a commuter aircraft with a sill well between 6 and 16 feet in height having the capability of extending and retracting while simultaneously swinging left and right as well as varying in height to meet the individual sill wells of varying sized aircraft.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for walkways, loading bridges and similar devices have been provided in the prior art. However, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as hereinafter described.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway overcoming the disadvantages inherent in the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway adapted to communicate between an airport ground terminal and a varying sized commuter aircraft having between a “zero” height application to a 16 foot height application.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway easily moved from one location to another.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway with an integral floor from the terminal to the aircraft.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway can be easily deployed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a passenger walkway simple and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
The foregoing objects, together with other objects and advantages, will be apparent from the following disclosure of the present invention.